Before that
by johnliz4ever
Summary: Takes place before and during the first part of 'Before I sleep' JohnLiz


Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate Atlantis.

Spoiler: Everything up to and including 'Before I sleep'

Note: The first scene of Before I Sleep was just screaming John/Liz ship. So I made this to commemorate that moment.

**Mainland**

John was in the Athosian village; they were still rebuilding after the storm and needed all the help Atlantis could offer. Halling walked into the village and spotted John.

"Major Sheppard."

John turned round

"Halling,"

Halling looked into the bag he was carrying and took out, what looked like a ceramic pot, and handed it to John.

"As you requested Major Sheppard."

John smiled

"Thank you Halling, I owe you a favour, big time."

Halling nodded, slightly confused by their different ways of speaking.

"May I ask who it is for?"

Before thinking John answered

"It's for Elizabeth…" John winced, inwardly, "…Dr Weir. It's her birthday."

Halling smirked knowingly,

"I hope she likes it."

Halling walked away before John could question the smirk.

**Puddle Jumper**

John cruised the Jumper over the ocean back to Atlantis; Ford was sat in the seat next to him. Ford sighed; he was bored. He looked over at John and decided to have a little fun.

"Sir, what was that thing that Halling gave you?"

John looked over at him.

"Just a ceramic pot, one of the Athosians made it."

Ford smirked

"Why'd Halling give you it?"

John cleared his throat.

"Don't know."

"Really, because I have it, on good authority, that you asked the Athosians to make it for Elizabeth…_I mean Dr Weir's_ birthday"

Ford's tone was almost mocking; John heard it.

"Who told you?"

Ford laughed

"Halling, I saw him give you it. I asked him"

John nodded

"Keep quiet about it, I want to surprise her."

Ford smirked

"Yes Sir."

**Atlantis **_(McKay's Lab)_

John walked into Rodney's lab.

"McKay, what do you want this time?"

Rodney walked in from the corner of the room followed by Ford, Teyla and Carson. All of them were smirking. John had a good idea what they were smirking about and vowed to kill Ford, slowly.

"Ford, you didn't"

Ford kept on smirking while trying to maintain his cute, innocent 'pretty boy' exterior.

"No idea what you're talking about Sir."

John frowned; these people were going to be the death of him.

"Major, if you are going to place blame on anyone, it should be me."

John looked at Teyla

"Why? You didn't do anything"

Teyla winced

"Halling told me about the present, and I …told Dr Beckett."

It was Carson's turn to speak up this time, but he strategically stood behind Teyla so he'd be out of the line of fire.

"Aye and I told Rodney."

Rodney smiled; he smiled because he knew John couldn't reach him while he was on the other side of the room

"And I went to tell Ford, but he already knew."

John shook his head; he was going to kill these people.

"Did any of you tell Weir?"

They all shook their heads, all of them slightly scared of what John was going to do to them. Telling him they knew seemed like a good idea, until he walked into the lab. Then all of them realised that John would hurt them, if they didn't play it carefully.

John looked at them one last time with a threatening look before leaving the lab.

The four of them sighed and relaxed.

"That went well, don't you think?"

Carson, Ford and Teyla looked at Rodney in disbelief.

"What?"

The three of them walked out of the lab shaking their heads.

"What?"

**Atlantis **_(2 days later)_

John had finally forgiven the Rodney, Ford, Teyla and Carson. He decided that it was pointless to hold a grudge against; they hadn't told Elizabeth or anyone else on Atlantis, so there really was no harm done. John left his quarters picking up the ceramic pot that was wrapped in cloth, on his way out and placing it in his pack. He walked up to the control meeting Ford, Rodney and Teyla on his way. Rodney was going to monitor their efforts from the control room while they explored the city. Truth be told Rodney didn't want to do all the walking involved. When they got to the control room, Rodney sat down sat down at a laptop.

"Alright kiddies, we are good to go."

John wasn't paying attention, he was to busy surveying the control room searching for his target. Then he realised.

"Be back in a minute, don't start without me."

John walked briskly down the stairs. His team watching him in confusion until they saw him go out to the balcony.

**Atlantis **_(Balcony)_

Elizabeth was leaning on a beam that was connected to the balcony when John came out; she was obviously thinking about something, she was always thing about something. On seeing John, Elizabeth straightened up.

"Hey."

John walked over to her

"There you are."

Elizabeth placed her hands on the main part of the balcony

"I was just sneaking a breath of fresh air. Thought you were off exploring the city".

"About to…" John went into his pack on picked up the pot, which was wrapped in cloth "…Picked this up on the mainland. The Athosians made it"

He handed the pot to Elizabeth and said in a very serious tone

"Happy birthday."

Elizabeth stared at him, whether she was pleased or pissed was something he couldn't read

"Hmm."

She unwrapped the pot from the cloth and smiled when she saw it.

"It's beautiful…" She looked at him, playfully annoyed "…How did you find out?

"Mum's the word."

John smirked at her before going back into the control room.

**Atlantis **_(Control room)_

As soon as John entered the control room, he saw his team, smirking at him. John smiled and brushed it off.

"Come on; let's go unlock the secrets of Atlantis."

John walked passed his team and they smiled at each other, they had unlocked one secret already.

FIN…


End file.
